Oceanside to vote on relocation of fire station

Response time expected to improve

A fire station that has been sharing space near Oceanside’s eastern border with Vista will be shifted to a more central location in Ivy Ranch pending Oceanside City Council approval this week, officials said.

Right now, Fire Station 8 — which has been housed in the City Operations Building on Oceanside Boulevard near Melrose Drive — is closer to Vista than it is to the Oceanside neighborhoods it is meant to serve, City Manager Peter Weiss said.

He said the plan is to move the station into leased space that is closer to College Avenue and Oceanside Boulevard. “This will actually centralize service,” Weiss said.

A consultant hired by the city last year said moving the station to a more central site should be a top priority in improving fire department services.

The consultant, TriData Division of System Planning Corp., said in an April report that Station 8 firefighters respond to as many emergency calls in Vista as they do in Oceanside. The two cities have a mutual assistance agreement for emergency calls.

Meanwhile, “there is a large coverage gap in the central portion of Oceanside” and no backup coverage to other nearby neighborhoods, the report said.

Station 8 has one fire engine staffed by three firefighters, Fire Battalion Chief Felipe Rodriguez said in his own report to the City Council.

Between July 1, 2011 and June 30, firefighters from Station 8 responded to 1,482 calls, Rodriguez wrote. He did not give a breakdown of how many of the 2011-12 fire calls were to Vista and how many were to Oceanside, but said moving the station would improve coverage to heavier populated neighborhoods including Rancho Del Oro.

Chief Daryl Hebert said moving the station “expands the area for its coverage.”

He said it takes firefighters from Station 8 five to eight minutes to respond to emergency calls, depending on the neighborhood.

That should be cut to about five minutes for all areas served by the station once it’s moved.

Oceanside eventually plans to build a $3.5 million permanent Station 8 at Avenida Del Oro and Old Grove Road, but Weiss said the city hasn’t had the money to build it.

The plan scheduled to go to City Council on Wednesday would lease space at 1935 Avenida Del Oro near the intersection of Oceanside Boulevard and College Avenue as a temporary Station 8 for seven years at an initially monthly rate of $3,524, with the cost rising by 2.5 percent after the first three years, Rodriguez wrote.

The city also would have an initial expense of $54,901 to move equipment from City Operations Center and install a 911 call system and other wiring at the new location, Rodriguez said.

The council is set to meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Oceanside City Hall.